


Mr. Sandman

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Meet-Cute, Sleep Deprivation, cop!Stiles, meet-stupid, werewolves are stll a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 12:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6153370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek Hale expected virtually nothing of shopping at three in the morning, but perhaps the thing he expected least was to find a guy in his early twenties asleep in the cereal aisle</p><p>And still standing up</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mr. Sandman

The thing they don't tell you about police work is that sometimes "working over time" means "going for three full days without sleep"

Ofcourse Stiles knew that

He knew that back when he was a kid because he new his dad- the sheriff- sometimes didn't come home at night

And he had heard of the few and far between *emergency* cases like missing persons and people on the run that require task forces to be out for hours, even a day or two at a time

He just hadn't expected to end up on one of those forces his second year on the force is the thing

He was still a rookie by most standards and although he was infamous for being the one to always solve things, to always tip off the other officers to leads and hints and clues, and to solve things on his own more times than not too, he still didn't expect to be added to a task force of this magnitude at only a year and three months on the force

Being unprepared may have only accounted for half of the problem and honestly he didn't know how he could have prepared for no sleep even if he had known, but some part of him believe it would have helped

But Stiles still felt more effected than he thought he should

After all, he had gotten WAY less sleep in highschool and had never done anything like THIS before...

~+~

Derek really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do here

He had never really seen anything like this before after all

There was a guy who looked to be about in his late teens or maybe early twenties who was asleep in the cereal aisle

And still standing up

In fact Derek wouldn't have even noticed he was asleep if not for the extra steady drumming of his heart

He didn't really feel right about just leaving him here though, he could get seriously hurt, but then again, what if he spooked the guy and he just ended up getting hurt anyway?

He ultimately decided that was just a risk he would have to take

Taking a step closer, he gently tapped the guy on the shoulder and jerked away when he suddenly flipped around, heart jack-rabbiting in his chest as he did and panting desperately as if he had just run a marathon

It was kind of scary

"Are you ok?" Derek finally asked

The guy panted a little more, clearly trying to catch his breath, and looked around at Derek with wide, startled eyes

"Um.. y-yeah.... yeah yeah ... yeah I just... yeah..." he slurred

"You sure? Because you know you were asleep in front of a box of Captain Crunch right?"

The guy blinked, apparently not so aware of it after all, and teetered a bit on his feet

"Um..." he mumbled, visibly having trouble keeping his eyes open, much less focused as he seemed to search to find eye contact

"How did you even get here?" Because Derek couldn't really imagine anyone being stupid enough to drive Cereal Guy to a grocery store in this state, and if they had, Derek's faith in humanity just dropped another five percent

"Um... drove...."

"You DROVE here?" Yep, there went his faith in humanity, down a full seven percent this time

He was already nodding off again, Derek could tell, but he seemed to be fighting pretty valiantly to stay in the game for what it was worth

"Listen... why don't I get you to a hospital ok? Just-"

"NO!" he almost screamed, atleast panicking though seemed to wake him up a little bit more

"No... no hospital... just... just.... please...."

Derek sighed, inhaling a moment later and picking up the distinct scents of magic and wolves, maybe Cereal Guy wasn't human and that's why he seemed to have such an aversion to hospitals

Derek really couldn't blame him, what with being a werewolf himself

"Ok, ok, no hospitals, I promise, but you have to let me call a cab for you at the very least,"

Actually, the more Derek thought about it, the more he thought that a cab may not be such a good idea after all, there were alot of ways that could go south and Derek didn't really trust that no one would take advantage of someone in Cereal Guy's state, or just leave him somewhere...

Especially considering that he had dozed off again and was using a wall of Fruit Loops and Fruity Pebbles to hold himself up with

"Actually, why don't I take you home?" he offered

He never did this, _really_ , he never invited himself into other people's lives and personal space so casually like this

But he also had a feeling that if he just left Cereal Guy in the middle of the grocery store at three in the morning something bad would happen to him, and honestly, Derek had more than enough on his guilty conscious already without needing to add that to the list

He carefully, oh so carefully, wrapped an arm around Cereal Guy and lead him out of the store, abandoning his own shopping to be done at another time

"What... why.... um.... I... where... I don't.. where...."

"It's ok," Derek said quickly, keeping a tight grip on him as the other male stumbled and seemed to waver between trying to get away and clinging to Derek tightly

"I'm just taking you home ok? I promise,"

Cereal Guy seemed caught between believing him and not believing him, but he was having so much trouble just staying on his feet and following Derek that the werewolf had atleast a little certainty that he wouldn't break off and run and get hit by a car or something

God he was already thinking of Cereal Guy like a stray dog, and he had even done the thing that his sister always warned him about when it came to strays: He had _named him_

He opened the passenger door of his car and carefully ushered Cereal Guy in, ignoring the frustrated, wimpering noise that he made as he tried to get out

"No no, I'm trying to help," he insisted quietly, gently pushing Cereal Guy's arms back into the car and shutting the door before heading back to the driver's side

"Why straight guys..." Cereal Guy muttered

Derek frowned, eyebrows pinched as he buckled his seatbelt and started the car, Cereal Guy mumbled under his breath before gasping and seeming to force his eyes to open more, gripping the seat roughly and swallowing

"Where... what the hell...?" he breathed

"Relax, calm down, I'm just trying to get you home, where do you live?"

"Home...?" he mumbled

"Yes, where is your home?" Derek tried again

"Wanna go ... home..." Cereal Guy mumbled, starting to doze off again

"Hey... hey," Derek frowned, nudging him until he looked up at the werewolf

"Where do you live?" he asked again, slower this time, more clearly

Cereal Guy took a few deep breaths, as if gearing up to answer him, and flexed his fingers as he stared at Derek

"Cal... Cali..fornia..? California..."

"No no, where.... what's your address?"

"I... California..."

Derek just sighed, glancing over and finding that Cereal Guy was already asleep again, mouth open and drooling on the seatbelt

Because ofcourse he was

After another five minutes of trying to extort the guy's address out of him Derek just gave up and resolved to take him back to his own house, and if Cereal Guy woke up screaming in the morning... well... that would be his problem

(Except not really because Derek would have ringing ears at that point)

The rest of the ride home was spent with Cereal Guy jolting himself awake in a panic and trying desperately to regain his senses, only to fall back asleep before he could

Over

And over

And over

And over again

It took longer than Derek wanted to admit to getting home simply because he didn't want to drive too fast and risk jolting Cereal Guy out of his stupor, that had happened to him once and it was terrifying actually

Once he finally pulled into the garage he carefully got out of the car and pulled Cereal Guy with him, luckily, despite jerking awake a couple of times, he didn't squirm around in Derek's arms, if anything he just held on tighter

"I'm not... I'm not.... coconut...." Cereal Guy mumbled as Derek set him in the bed

The werewolf just sighed, starting to feel sorry for the poor thing, it was obvious that this went beyond just regular sleep deprivation, Derek would say he's been up for atleast a day without any sleep- if not longer, Derek knew how that felt and he wouldn't wish it on anyone, especially since Cereal Guy didn't seem to have anyone looking after him

Covering him with the blankets, Derek lingered for a moment, watching how peacefull and calm Cereal Guy seemed to look as he finally got to rest in a bed

It was kind of heart-breaking really...

But Derek didn't want to disturb him, so he scribbled a quick note, explaining that he was not, in fact, a serial killer, and pinned it to the door in the hopes that his new and unexpected house guest wouldn't wake up and call the cops in the morning

~+~

For the first time in five years, Derek woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking in the morning

Well...

It was actually in the afternoon, it was almost two o'clock P.M., but Derek called it morning anyway

"Lucy?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and looking around for the dog

There was no response

He suddenly remembered the house guest he had abruptly taken in last night and jumped to his feet, padding over to the door only to find a note taped to it

_Hi,_

_Thanks for bringing me home last night and not doing anything to me in my less than consensual state, I really appreciate it, I'm sure you're wondering why I was in a cereal aisle at three in the morning and I promise it's not as bad as you think, I took your dog for a walk (I hope that's ok) and I'm making breakfast, I'll be here until you wake up, seriously, thanks again_

_-Stiles_

Beneath it was the note Derek had taped on Cereal Guy's (Stiles'?) door that morning

_Please don't panic,_

_I found you in the cereal aisle at the store and you insisted on not going to a hospital, I didn't want to call a cab for you in case someone unsavory picked you up so I tried to drive you home, but you wouldn't tell me your address, so I brought you back to my place, you're free to leave whenever you'd like (obviously) or if you'd prefer to wake me up I'll drive you home_

_-Derek_

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Derek opened the door and stepped out, immediately being hit with the strong scents of waffles, bacon, eggs... and looking down he saw cereal on the counter

Ofcourse

"Oh hey you're awake!"

He glanced up at the obviously excited face of Cereal Guy- who he now knows is Stiles- and gave a tense smile in return

"I hope you don't mind that I took your dog for a walk, she seemed kind of desperate, what's her name?"

"Lucy, and I don't mind, thank you actually, she usually wakes me up early in the mornings for that,"

"Oh yeah she must have sensed how exhausted you were and given you a break then, I got up at noon and she seemed pretty excited to see me,"

"Right.. noon..." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes a bit, "I um... thank you, again, I really appreciate it,"

"What? Oh no no no, this is the LEAST I could do, I should be thanking you here, I mean seriously this... this is BEYOND nice..."

"Don't mention it, I didn't want you to get hurt," Derek shrugged, pausing for a moment before finally asking what he had been wondering every waking hour since three A.M.

"Why were you asleep in the cereal aisle last night anyway?"

"Ah... that... ok so I'm a cop, and we've been working on this missing person's case for three days and haven't slept, I was on my way home because I was really high on adrenaline when I left the station and thought I could drive but I realized like... half way there that I was going to have a wreck if I kept going on, so I pulled into the nearest place, wich just happened to be the store, and completely intended to go in and ask someone to call me a cab since my phone got trashed during the investigation, and I just... didn't make it there I guess,"

Derek just gave a slow, small nod and sat down at the counter, resting his head on his hand and watching absently as Stiles scrambled some eggs

He didn't even remember HAVING eggs...

"That brings up a question though, why were YOU on the cereal aisle at three in the morning on a random Thursday night? Bachelor party go awry or something?"

Derek shook his head, starting to blush and biting his lip

"Actually I'm a paramedic, I mostly work nights so I'm used to being up really late, I was sent home early last night and didn't really know what to do with myself so I decided to get my shopping done,"

"Sent home early? What for?"

Derek just gave a little shrug, really not wanting to talk about it and looking down to avoid eye contact as Stiles brought him a plate of waffles

"Mm.. let me guess, you were sent home for emotional reasons right?"

"How did you know?" Derek frowned, eyebrows pinching and mouth forming into a thin line

"Because I was sent home for the same reason not too long ago, got really attached to a victim and almost did something illegal when we couldn't get the evidence we needed on her kidnapper, we ended up getting him in the end though on another, worse, case but it still drove me pretty crazy and I had to take a few days to detox,"

He nodded slowly in response, pouring some syrup over his waffles and glancing at the cop over his shoulder

"SO I guess you'll have the next few days off then?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure, I'll have to ask my supervisors, they just said to go home today," Derek shrugged back

"Oh... because I was just thinking .. you know... I have a few days off, and if you have a few days off, maybe you'd like to spend those few days off... together, a little, sharing cereal, making sure we sleep... that kinda thing..."

Derek stared at him curiously, wondering if he was really offering what he THOUGHT he was offering

"Are you asking me out?"

"Um... yes.. kind of? I mean, I'M exhausted and YOU'RE exhausted so I thought maybe like... an at-home kind of date? Thing? Not a formal dinner date with a fancy restaurant and dressing up... unless you want to, then I mean I could?"

"What would be involved in this at-home kind of thing?" he smirked slightly

"Mmm... pizza and last night's How To Get Away With Murder? I know **I** didn't see it and **you** probably didn't see it either,"

He grunted quietly, taking a bite of his waffles and nodding along

"Add the latest episode of Supernatural and you have yourself a deal,"

Stiles just beamed, looking as if he had won the lottery and fist-pumping the air

"I think I love you already,"

"That would be a first," Derek muttered back, pausing as a sudden thought struck him

"I don't understand something, why were you so adamant about not going to a hospital?"

Now that he had slept as well he could tell the difference between Stiles smelling LIKE a wolf and Stiles smelling like he WAS a wolf

"Mm? Oh because my almost-step-mom is a nurse in the E.R. and she'll get mad if she finds out what state I'm in, she'd probably yell at my dad about it, or atleast tell Scott and then Scott would act like a hurt puppy about why I didn't just call him to drive me home and I'd be like 'Scott you sleep through the phone' and he'd be like 'I'd hear it though I'm a werewolf' and I'd be like 'But you ignore it anyway' and it'd all just be a sloppy mess so,"

"How do you know I'm a werewolf?"

"Well I've run with wolves for pretty much my entire life, I'd know one when I see one,"

"Right... and you are...?"

"Most people would call me a spark,"

Derek's jaw dropped, eyes going wide as he stuttered in his eating

"You're a spark and you haven't been sleeping? You could have been dangerous in that state!"

"Hey, don't JUDGE a spark for being a cop Mr. Werewolf Paramedic ok? Pot, kettle,"

"Ah... yeah... I guess that's true..." he sighed

Stiles smirked, stepping over and placing a hand on his shoulder

"C'mon, let's get this kinda-date on the road huh? But first, I sort of owe you for last night,"

"What? You don't owe me anything, it's really no-"

Derek fell silent, a soft kiss being pressed on his lips as the spark leaned in and allowed the affectionate gesture to linger

"That's for keeping me safe last night, and maybe if you keep me safe from getting cold on the couch you'll get another one,"

Derek had never raced to a peice of furniture so fast in his life


End file.
